Innehållsförteckning för March 2012 från MotorTrend

“I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO KNOW WHO WE ARE AND HOW WE GOT HERE.” THIRTY-FIVE. That’s the average age of Motor Trend’s entire editorial staff. Add up just the ages of Alex, Benson, Christian, Ed, Erick, Jason, Karla, Kirill, and Nate, and the average drops to below 30. Who are they? The crew that publishes content to our Wide Open Throttle news blog (wot.motortrend.com), one of the fastest-growing arms of the Motor Trend operation. Our editorial team is now one of the biggest in the industry—just under 50 people, not counting the dozen or so in our video squad, which recently sprouted wings to fly on its own. Why leave the nest? Oh, you’ll see, but it has to do with 134,628: the number of subscribers we had…

AMERICANS don’t buy hatchbacks (except for Minis), and Europeans don’t understand why not. Western Europe’s most popular model is the Volkswagen Golf, with hatchback versions of the Ford Focus, Opel Astra, and Renault Megane among best-sellers. Meanwhile, in the U.S. auto market, the compact crossover/utility vehicle is emerging as midsize family-sedan alternative. “When they’re looking for a car, they start in either the C/D-segment (midsize) or in the compact utilities segment,” says Samantha Hoyt, marketing manager for the new Ford Fusion. “We’re calling this the supersegment, because people cross-shop these so much. It’ll be Camry-Escape, Camry-Fusion, Escape-Accord, that whole CR-V-Escape, they’re all shopping each other.” The segment has been around for a long time, with the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, and Ford Escape the dominant models. Bigger families looking for…

SERGIO Marchionne’s management could have called it the Dodge 5 Percent, for the additional interest in Chrysler that Fiat Auto receives for introducing a 40-mpg (EPA unadjusted combined) compact by 2012. The rumor was that Dodge would use the name Hornet, from its 2006 Geneva show concept. Hudson first used the Hornet name in the 1950s. AMC revived the name for the 1970 model compact that replaced the American, and of course, Chrysler bought AMC in 1987. The name Dodge chose for its compact, Dart, has a much richer history with the automaker than Hornet. Chrysler dealerships were heavily dualled through the ‘50s. Beside Chrysler-Plymouth, there was DeSoto-Dodge and even Dodge-Plymouth. Chrysler Corporation decoupled its Dodge-Plymouth dealerships into the 1960 model year, which also was the penultimate year for DeSoto.…

ACURA CALLS THE NSX concept it showed at the 2012 North American International Auto Show the “ultimate expression of man-machine synergy,” the definitive interpretation of a modern sports car, and a performance halo that can be “driven like a pro every day.” The NSX concept was shaped with design input from Honda and Acura teams around the globe, using the toned-down yet distinctive Keen Edge design. The two-seater features a cab forward arrangement and a midengine layout (a la the last NSX). The concept’s hybrid powertrain uses a direct-injected V-6 (likely displacing 3.5 to 3.7 liters) matched to a seven-speed twin-clutch automatic with a newly developed integrated motor assist system. Tentatively dubbed Sports Hybrid AWD, the powertrain uses electric motors at each front wheel for torque vectoring and independent wheel…

The new Dodge Dart is the first evidence of what a full Chrysler-Fiat collaboration can produce, and it’s an encouraging sign of things to come. The ’13 Dart rides on a modified Alfa Romeo Giulietta chassis with a wider track. The Dodge is 1.5 inches wider overall, with 3.7 inches more wheelbase and slightly flared wheel openings for the wider tracks. Because a “three-box” four-door sedan body replaces the Giulietta’s four-door hatchback, it’s a full foot longer overall. Styling is all Dodge, and looks more upscale than all of the Japanese competition, about on par with Hyundai and Kia. It has acoustic-laminated glass, triple-seal doors, and a covered underbody. It borrows Charger’s “racetrack” taillamp motif. The interior features 10 standard airbags, soft-touch surfaces, and optional red “racetrack” lighting surrounding the…

WHILE MAINSTREAM luxury cars typically run 5-7-year product cycles, flagships like the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class go longer on a single design. The 2013 version of Mercedes’ luxury two-seater, which launches in the U.S. as the SL550, replaces a 10-year-old model. The SL prior ran 14 years, and its predecessor launched here in the ’71 model year. Perhaps the predecessor’s relative youth explains why the new SL’s styling looks evolutionary. The most significant change is Mercedes’ literal interpretation of the letters “SL,” which stand for “sporty” and “lightweight.” This is the first SL constructed mostly of aluminum. The body is stronger than the old SL’s steel construction thanks to chill casting, MIG welding, and friction stir welding. The aluminum diet program cuts 275 pounds from the outgoing SL550, despite the additional 1.4…

WHERE HAVE WE HEARD this before? Every builder of a midsize sedan since—at least—the first serious Nissan Altima a decade ago claims to have broken the mold with a sporty-looking, sporty-handling answer to all the vanilla appliances out there. You won’t, they claim, have trouble finding their affordable sport sedan in a parking lot full of Camraccordsonaltimas. So it’s no surprise when Chris Hamilton, the British exterior design chief of the all-new 2013 Ford Fusion and Mondeo, says, “We put a lot of emphasis to create something we think will be different in the marketplace. We’ll have a sophisticated feel. We’ll be elegant. We’ll be somewhat unexpected in North America, from Ford, and we’ll set ourselves apart from Camry and Accord. We wanted to create a beautiful-looking car. That’s always…

WHILE IT MAY be easy to call them twins, the FR-S and BRZ are nothing of the sort. If anything, they could be considered halfbrothers from different mothers. The exterior differences are easy to see. The most noticeable are on the nose. A black bar dominates the BRZ’s central grille, while the FR-S goes for a simpler gaping intake filled with all-black mesh. The lower turn signal and foglight housings on the BRZ are squarer than the FR-S’ swept-back elements. To keep costs at bay, the Scion employs halogen bulbs in its headlights instead of brighter HID projectors with LED strips as on the BRZ. Subaru’s designers also axed the novel, but bulky-looking, horizontally opposed piston logo adorning the FR-S’ front fenders. The variances continue inside. BRZ buyers can choose…

YES, WE KNOW what you’re thinking. You’ve seen this car before, haven’t you? But things look a little different. Those wheels are peculiar, and the body seems to be riding awfully high. It actually looks a little like a concept car. All right, enough guessing. This is the new Subaru XV, and it’s aimed squarely at the compact-utility segment that Subaru predicts will stay on rapid boil long enough for the automaker to sell a ton of these things. Here’s the skinny: The Subaru XV, at its heart, is an all-new 2012 Impreza Sport, the five-door hatchback version of Subaru’s popular C-segment car. The Impreza itself plays host to a number of improvements over the previous-generation edition, including a windshield that has been pushed forward nearly 8 inches; a stiffer,…

IN THE WORLD OF SPORT sedans, the BMW 3 Series is arguably the best car for the money. The redesigned 2012 328i, for instance, routes 240 hp and 260 lb-ft through a sublime RWD chassis capable of 0-60 mph in about 5.9 seconds, and a skidpad score neighboring 0.90 g. Better yet, the new turbo-four 3 Series comes standard with an intimate six-speed manual, achieves around 28 mpg combined (Camry four-cylinder territory), and coddles occupants in a chic cockpit that justifies the $35,795 starting price. If the 328i were a bottle of wine, you’d find it at BevMo! for $30, with a Robert Parker rating of 95 points. Problem is, many sport-sedan shoppers can’t afford a $36,000 car, much less a $30 bottle of aged grape juice. Times are tight…

OUR LONG-TERM 2012 NV2500 SV feels up to the task of shaking up the commercial van class, with its optional 5.6-liter V-8 producing 317 hp and 385 lb-ft of torque. The transmission in our long-termer is a five-speed automatic—the only gearbox offered for the NV lineup. The steering column-mounted gear selector has a manual shift switch that, interestingly enough, has an auto rev-matched downshift function not unlike that on the sportier 370Z automatic. So far, we’ve put the NV to work hauling photography and video equipment—a task the NV will get to know well during its tenure in our fleet. We’ve appreciated the optional equipment it came with, especially the $950 Technology package, which adds a navigation system with 5-inch touch screen, satellite radio, Bluetooth hands-free phone system, and the…

YES, YOU SHOULD BE worried about Google testing autonomous cars. It has been testing driverless Toyota Priuses and other models since competing with General Motors and other teams in the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s autonomous vehicle demonstrations of the late 2000s. The ubiquitous computer search engine company has been reticent in talking about its project to Motor Trend, though The New York Times’ November 13, 2011, expose on Google X, the company’s research lab, reported that the autonomy project is part of a secretive effort to open and establish new markets and technologies. “Unimpressed by the innovative spirit of Detroit automakers,” The Times reported, “Google is now considering manufacturing them in the United States, said a person briefed on the effort.” One non-innovative Detroit automaker is experimenting with driverless…

ONE FORD is bringing the Transit to the U.S. To date, the One Ford convergence of the company’s North American and European models has been restricted to smaller cars like the Fiesta and Focus, soon the Escape and Fusion/Mondeo, and one truck, the Transit Connect. Bigger trucks like the F-Series and the Econoline were market-specific. Econoline development has been stagnant for years, however, so Ford has announced it will build and sell its all-new, seventh-generation full-size Transit here beginning in calendar 2013. The Transit eventually will replace the E-Series van, as it’s now formally known, but the two will be on sale side by side for a couple years. This includes commercial panel and passenger models of the Econoline and Transit with windows. Ford will build the Transit in its…

ONE FLEDGLING, high-tech automaker’s future “is all used up,” to quote Marlene Dietrich in Orson Welles’ “Touch of Evil.” The company, Aptera, was experimenting with a patent-pending composite manufacturing system that “drastically” cuts mass by as much as 30 percent, while tripling strength. Aptera demonstrated its light airplane-like, three-wheel, aerodynamic electric car rated 206 mpg-equivalent, using the EPA testing procedure at Argonne National Labs, and had received a Conditional Commitment Letter for a $150 million Energy department Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan. That’s peanuts in the auto biz, though, and Aptera had problems raising private capital to get its plan off the ground. After announcing it was shutting down, bizarre videos appeared on YouTube of now-unemployed Aptera employees destroying bodyshells with forklifts in the company’s factory. The lesson? Independent automobile…

BENTLEY will add more differentiation between its second-gen Flying Spur sedan, launching in 2013, and the new Continental GT unveiled at the Detroit show. The Flying Spur will come in a wider range of trim levels, from cushy limos for the Chinese market to a more aggressively sporting 200-mph variant and a more efficient—but still very fast—V-8. With Bentley establishing itself in China, the current Flying Spur is enjoying a late-life sales surge. That market prefers sedans to coupes, and the company sold 700 Flying Spurs there last year, making it Bentley’s biggest Chinese seller. Chinese tastes give a clue to one version of the second-generation Spur. It will have a softer suspension and quieter exhaust note, to give performance with even greater rearseat comfort. Engineers are paying more attention…

Acura calls the ILX’s styling Arrow Fuse dynamics, and while the concept is Civic-based, its lines are more distinct and rounded than the current crop of Acuras, yet provide a premium appearance absent in Civic. The ILX was created for Generation Y buyers, the first group in U.S. history on course to earn less than their parents. Acura expects to accommodate this diminished earning power with a base price well below $30,000. For comparison, the 2012 Buick Verano starts at $23,470 and the 2012 TSX at $30,695. Acura foresees moving about 40,000 units per year, and hopes to retain these younger customers and move them up within the Acura family. To satisfy Gen Y, ILX will have tech features like hard drive music storage, Pandora Internet radio, and text-to-voice SMS…

BUICK FIRST revealed its “Baby Enclave” subcompact CUV at an indefinitely embargoed 2009 GM press event. Three years later, the ’13 Encore looks vaguely similar to that ’09 concept. The Encore is on a dedicated new CUV platform 9.5 inches longer overall on a 1.2-inch-longer wheelbase compared with Chevy Sonic, with which it shares only seat frames and the 1.4-liter turbo Ecotec. The headlamps clearly must come from another GM car, though. How else to explain the non-functional air-intake filler panels between the lamps and bumper? Premium interior fittings include rich leather, soft plastics, and the kinds of color combinations seen on the Verano. The usual plethora of Buick accoutrements will include standard StabiliTrak, an acoustic-laminated windshield, active noise cancellation, a 7-inch LCD screen, blue headlight projector ring, and optional…

Lie in Weight I’m a curious, 14-year-old Ford diehard. After scanning through all the pros and cons of each Sport/Utility of the Year entrant, I read one of the things that put the Ford Explorer under: The “EcoBoost engine is disappointing.” Then I saw that the Evoque was the winner and thought, “Oh, what a big surprise.” But I read on that it used a “Ford-sourced 2.0-liter turbocharged engine.” Hold on a second, the EcoBoost is a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine! After flipping the pages back and forth between the two, looking at the specs, I found both engines have the same exact setup and similar specs, and are both rated at 240 hp. So, the big question is if the EcoBoost is disappointing in the Explorer and the Evoque has…

The Ford Fusion Hybrid has been a critical, if not a sales, success since it was introduced for the 2010 model year. The ’13 Fusion returns with a hybrid version, and will add a plug-in electric Energi version sharing powertrain technology with the upcoming C-Max MPV. The Fusion Energi launches about five months after the Fusion and Fusion Hybrid. While details were skimpy at press time, we can report: • Fusion Hybrid’s gas engine downsizes 0.5 liter to a non-EcoBoost Atkinson version of the 2.0-liter I-4, with no belt-driven accessories. Ford expects best-in-class fuel economy of about 47/44 mpg city/highway, topping the ’12 Toyota Camry Hybrid’s 43/39 mpg EPA estimates. • Fusion Energi’s EPA electric mpg-equivalent combined rating is rumored to be about 8 mpg higher than the Chevrolet Volt’s,…

“THE CHEVROL ET MALIBU Eco Brings Flavor to Vanilla Segment,” Chevrolet’s press release proudly proclaims. Then, in the opening paragraph, Chevy calls its own car’s ride and handling qualities “class-challenging.” With that description, the company has handed me the sum-up I’ve been trying for hours to coax out of a blank Word document. Class-challenging. That really says it all. In the 2012 Malibu Eco, Chevrolet has delivered a car for today, a solid midsize sedan that’s got a legitimate shot at the top of the pack. For now. On the one hand, it’s good to see a new GM product not just catch the competition, but surpass it. Still, my concern is that the Malibu’s opened up only a small lead, not a commanding one. The irony is that Chevy…

DISCLAMER Not one yard of drunk driving occurred during this story. Photographer Mike Shaffer and video dude Corey Denomy were forced against their will to stay sober during the entire affair. The same cannot be said for our former videographer Gordon Green. I’VE GOT A CRAZY IDEA. You’ve seen “Smokey and the Bandit,” so you know in that Pop-Tart of a cult classic Burt Reynolds and his trucker buddy have to haul 400 cases of Coors from Texas to Georgia. Only thing is, due to this county’s capricious liquor laws, making that run was illegal. But that didn’t stop the Bandit, no sir. He done did it, and outsmarted Smokey along the way. More than three decades after the Bandit, plenty of dumb alcohol distribution laws still exist. Meaning that…

UNSURPRISINGLY, I’m driving the CTS-V Wagon as often as I can. But here’s the thing: I travel frequently. Weeks go by when I’m not in the office, and you’d be totally wrong if you think the CTS-V Wagon just sits around our garage. So here are other people’s thoughts and impressions about the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon accompanied, where appropriate, by my own commentary. Associate Web editor Erick Ayapana says, “At times I found myself questioning if I was really driving a Cadillac wagon. Gauges for supercharger boost and lateral g-forces? A six-speed manual? Am I really hearing the exhaust snap, crackle, and pop whenever I lift off the throttle? Yes, yes, and heck yes.” I think he means “hell yes,” but I get his point. Another recent L.A. transplant, Christian…

GOOD NEWS: Judges for the 23rd Annual Michelin Design Competition chose the sportiest, most driver-friendly futuristic car as the best design. College for Creative Studies student Taylor Langhals designed his 2046 Chevrolet Stretch to be sustainable “and still have a degree of personality.” Electric motors on each axle would power the Chevy Stretch. Its chassis extends from “city mode” to “stretch” or sport mode. Even its wheels and tires transform for better aerodynamics and a more aggressive tire pattern in the sport mode. After all, Michelin is the sponsor of this competition, which pits four teams of four CCS design seniors to draw the kinds of cars and trucks we’ll need in the future. The theme was “City 2046: Art, Life and Ingenuity,” in which Michelin asked the 16 lucky…

THE 50 STATES and the District of Columbia should ban drivers’ use of portable electronic devices, from mobile phones to iPads and other portable electronic devices, the National Transportation Safety Board recommends. The ban would exempt phones and other PEDs used for emergencies, and PEDs designed to support the driving task. NTSB also urges states to use NHTSA’s model of “highvisibility enforcement” to support the bans. The board’s recommendation, approved unanimously, followed an investigation into a 2010 Gray Summit, Missouri, collision involving a deadhead Volvo tractor truck, a GMC Sierra, and two school buses. The NTSB says the driver of the Sierra sent and received 11 text messages in the 11 minutes before the crash, the last of which came “moments” before the pickup crashed into the Volvo truck. There…

THE NATIONAL Highway Transportation Safety Administration conducted a New Car Assessment Program side poll impact test on a Chevrolet Volt at its Wisconsin facility May 12, 2011. On June 2, the remains of the crash-tested Volt caught fire and lit up three other nearby vehicles. If NHTSA followed usual practice at the Wisconsin facility, it should have drained the gas tank after the test. NHTSA testers failed to deplete the Volt’s lithium-ion battery pack of its power. The agency blamed the fire on “delayed thermal heating and pressure release”, and performed three tests simulating the mechanical damage to the battery pack during the week of November 14. This resulted in accusations that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood covered up the ensuing NHTSA investigation, a charge he vehemently denies. The media circus…

THE FOOTPRINT-based formula for Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards established in 2006 and extended to the 34.1-mpg standard by 2016 and 54.5-mpg standard by 2025 makes it easier for automakers to build and sell larger vehicles in the U.S., says a Center for Automotive Research study. The sales-weighted average vehicle size could increase 1 to 16 square feet, which would undermine fuel economy improvements by 1 mpg to 4 mpg, CAR says. This is because the ’16 and ’25 CAFE standards are not absolutes, but allow a sliding scale of fuel economy standards based on a vehicle’s “footprint,” or wheelbase times track. CAR says adaptation of the footprint formula in ’06 was designed to prevent an influx of small cars, but not to produce the opposite effect. It calls on…

DESPITE THE NAME, the Gran Coupe resembles other so-called four-door coupes such as the Audi A7 and Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class. Aside from the revised sheetmetal and the addition of two doors, the new model is a close twin of the 6 Series coupe and convertible models already on sale. The Gran Coupe is marginally bigger than those siblings, with a wheelbase stretched 4.5 inches and body stretched 4.4 inches over the 6 Series coupe. Inside, the Gran Coupe doesn’t fall far from the 6 Series tree. A tall center console bisects the cabin, while a 10.2-inch LCD screen for the iDrive system sits above the climate and audio controls on the center stack. Not surprisingly, the Gran Coupe shares almost all of its mechanical bits with the 6 Series coupe and…

E-mail digital photo(s) of you and Motor Trend to: motortrend@gmail.com or mail them to: Motor Trend, c/o Mail, Readers on Location, 831 S. Douglas St., El Segundo, CA 90245. ANIMAL CROSSING Alex Noftz drove a diesel-powered Tata Indigo to the top of southern Maharashtra, near Goa. “Not sure what the name of this road was, but it snaked us along cliff faces for miles and miles, dodging family-laden bajaj motorcycles and wood-framed goods carriers,” writes Noftz. The 260-mile drive took 13 hours. “When traveling in India, always take into consideration the condition of the roads, the local politics, and dangers inherent to the route—like cliff-front roads, landslides, and the odd road-crossing monkey or elephant.”…

IT WAS THE 1960S. THE BABY BOOMERS were in their 20s; we had the technology to put a man on the moon; and social change was the new social norm. Ford’s idea guy, Lee Iacocca, decided it was time to go after the youth market with a small, performance-oriented fashion piece built from off-the-shelf parts that would turn heads on the streets and profits in showrooms. The plan was not only simple but brilliant. The 1964½ Mustang was born to instant success, with dealers taking 22,000 orders on the first day. Ford hoped to sell 100,000 cars in the first year of production, but after extending the model year to meet orders, more than 600,000 1964½-1965 Mustangs galloped off lots. Clearly, this Lee guy was on to something, and that…

IT DOESN’T take long to realize the 2013 Scion FR-S is special—just an aggressive 4-second wide-open throttle jab, a short three-two downshift, and a clockwise rotation of the FR-S’ small 14.4-inch-diameter helm. It’s at this point in my drive, as I’m heading into Sodegaura Forest Raceway’s sharp, right-hand Turn 1, that the bright-orange Traction Control icon begins to flash incessantly, as if sending SOS signals. Gradually, the FR-S’ tail swings into my leftmost periphery, and its 215/45-17 Michelins chirp as they scramble for grip. I can hear and feel the VSC’s frantic efforts to correct a car it thinks is flailing toward destruction. A quick shot of opposite lock on the front alloys keeps the silver coupe sliding gracefully around the predetermined apex. Out of Turn 1 and on the…

WHEN PEOPLE ask me to name the most interesting car I’ve driven, I have two stock answers. My first reply is the FJR-50, an open-wheeled, Formula 3-spec race car—track use only, helmet mandatory. The second is the Fisker Karma. So why don’t I bank the HyperFast TypeTp XYZ or UltraLuxury Model ABC as my answers? From the “interesting” perspective, the Karma ticks all the right boxes. It’s the very first car offered by Fisker Automotive, the Anaheim, California-based start-ups-up founded in 2007 that dreamed big, spent bigger, and is forging aheada with its plan to produce luxury green cars The extended-range electric vehicle is purpose-built to exhibit multiple powertrain personalities, and is also a member of the increasingly important and burgeoning vehicle population that accepts electricity as fuel. An animal…

TO MEET or beat the rival Ford Fusion to the market, Chevrolet moved up the 2013 Malibu’s timetable by six months. It may not sound like much, but it meant that the new 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine wouldn’t be ready at launch. Instead, Malibu leads off with the Eco model, which features the latest version of GM’s Belt Alternator Starter mild hybrid system, dubbed eAssist. For now, it uses the old 2.4-liter four-cylinder capable of 182 horsepower and 172 lb-ft of torque assisted by an electric motor that can add an extra 15 horsepower and 79 lb-ft of torque to the mix. eAssist will be upgraded to the new 2.5-liter engine in the future. In the meantime, here’s what’s on the docket for 2012: Malibu LS, LT, and LTZ Non-hybrid Malibus…

MEET THE newest baby roadster to sport an AMG badge, the most powerful (and I’ll argue best-looking) SLK55 ever. While there are other bits and pieces that make it an AMG, at the end of the day, AMGs are about big engines pumping out big, tire-shredding numbers. The new SLK55 is no exception, but it is a little different. Under the long hood sits a special version of AMG’s 5.5-liter V-8, but the two turbochargers and intercoolers have been removed for “packaging reasons.” In their place? Nada. But don’t fret—the new M152 motor puts out a healthy 415 horsepower and 398 lb-ft of torque. And whether or not you fold and lower the metal roof, you can breathe easier knowing that the new car will put out 30 percent less…

IF WE RATED our long-termers yearbook-style, the Mazda2 Touring would be voted Most Bang for the Buck and Most Likely to Make You Smile. It was far from the fastest, biggest, or most well-appointed car in our garage, but in its 12 months and 18,000 miles, the peppy green hatch won the hearts of almost everyone on staff. The ’2 piqued Motor Trend staff interest enough at 2011 Car of the Year testing to be invited back to El Segundo for a yearlong stay. We ordered a Spirited Green specimen in Touring trim, which includes black cloth seats with red piping, foglamps, 15-inch alloys, a six-speaker stereo, a rear spoiler, and chrome exhaust tips. Other trim items were a leather-wrapped multifunction helm, a trip computer, and cruise control. We added…